


Broken Smile

by yiran



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Major Original Character(s), Present Tense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-12
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-20 23:22:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/590831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yiran/pseuds/yiran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes I wonder about what a world with Humans would be like. Or about how my life would change if I were born an Axew or Charmander rather than a Trapinch. Or maybe about what’s going on in Spire’s mind, if I’m feeling selfish. Unless we’re confronted by the Salamence, in which my mind has only space for one thing: the desire to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I: The Altruistic Guardian

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. This story is going to be long and convoluted. But I am the epitome of procrastination, so that may take a while. Mature themes will increase in frequency as the story goes along. I don't post many author notes (mainly since it breaks the flow of this story and flow is quite important in this story, being first person present tense and all), and I respond to reviews privately. But I'm really really really really really obsessed with this story (and most other stuff) and I'll be willing to talk a lot and stuff because I'm really talkative and nice (hopefully). So, enjoy!

" _Don't go, daddy," I wail, sobbing and hiccupping._

" _Sorry, Nova. I have to go."_

" _But I don't want you to go, daddy. I like it with you." It's so unfair. Vie and Hale and Jay and the others get to have their dad… but I don't? Why?_

" _Nova, do you want to live in a place where you can grow up without being afraid of anything? Daddy has to go and make a place that." Suddenly, he takes off in a flash of green and red, leaving a trail of sand behind._

_Words choke in my throat, he screams, everything becomes red, then white, then-_

Black with a tint of orange.

I open my eyes, and find that my face is very wet. I ignore that, since the sun will dry it up soon anyway. Instead, in an attempt to forget about the nightmare, I blink again, becoming more aware of my surroundings.

I think I was wandering around…? My surroundings will tell me what I was doing… hopefully. The sun's shining down from the sky, heating up the vast and empty desert. It's really uncomfortable, especially to us Trapinch who sport a darker skin than our adult forms. The shade of our skin absorbs more heat, according what our science Educator, Perspia, told us.

And then I remember what I'm here for. And the events that came before it.

When Mum told me to go and hunt this morning, I tried my best to change her mind to afternoon instead. Instead, she told me I needed to be able endure the heat. Well, I don't particularly see what use that will have, but I did so anyway, because parents are always right… Now I know that it was a mistake. Being hot is a really unpleasant experience.

So the instant I spot a tree in the distance, I hurry over to it.

I find Vie resting there, eyes closed. She's my best friend, because of an incident that involved Mum saving her egg from a crazy Cacturne. I don't really care about all the life-debt stuff, I just know that she's my best friend, and that I can tell my feelings to her. The lighter colour of skin, only just darker than the colour of the sand that surround us, makes her easily told apart from the rest of us Trapinch.

"Hey," I say as I enter the shade.

"Oh, hi Nova," she says back, just noticing me. "So, you gave up on trying to hunt too?"

"Yeah," I reply, feeling better in the tree's shadow.

"I don't get why Mum told me to do it now. I mean, isn't it better to hunt in the evening? When the sun's down?"

"My mum said it was because they want us to practice in the heat."

"That's stupid." She complains. " _My_  mum didn't tell us. She should stop listening to my brother's stupid appeals."

"Wait, where's Hale?" I ask Vie, noticing his absence.

"You know how he says he actually  _likes_  the heat," she says. "I don't think he does. If he actually does, then he's crazy. And I'd have to kill him because I don't want a crazy twin brother to ruin my reputation."

I let out a chuckle. It's a bit strange how we don't get along with Hale as well as Vie considering Mum saved his egg too. It's probably because he's too full of energy, while Vie and me are both more interested in intellectual stuff.

But intellectual stuff isn't welcomed by the Shallows, which is located in the west of Aeride Desert. We're the main supplier of food in the Flygon inhabited areas – which is only two major settlements, the Shallows and Lyrl – while the Flygon from Lyrl supply us with manufactured goods. I don't get how they are able to make bags, medicine, and bricks, but I can only hope it's able to stand the attacks from the occasional Garchomp and Salamence raids, because they are useful enough.

I wince at the sudden loud voice that comes out of nowhere.

"If you don't get up, I'm going to leave you here and tell Silex you missed History."

Maybe I dozed off again, but that wakes me up. History's one of my favourite subjects, after all. The Humans I have never seen, they fascinate me.

"Next time, don't yell in my ear," I say, annoyed at Vie.

She gives me a complete smile. "Don't give me a reason to."

We crawl to the brick building together, and it turns out that Vie was right; we're almost late, judging by the somewhat urgent tone Silex, our History Educator, addresses us, as well as the room full of Trapinch.

"Quick," she says. Just one look of her, and it's evident that she's not in her prime; one of her wings is tattered, her body full of little scars (from hunting?), and most noticeably, her skin greyer than most Flygon we see. Her eyes are a bit blue behind the red thing – I forgot what it's called – too.

I find a seat – which is a small dent in the relatively clean ground – next to Hale (who has about the same colour of shell as Vie) at the front, and Vie settles next to me.

"So," Silex starts, "Who can remember what we did last lesson?"

As if on cue, my foreleg's raised. "Yes, Nova?"

"We studied about the history of our region approximately… 4 centuries ago, when a unknown disaster wiped out the Humans in Evitern." My systematic reply earns me a few haughty glances from around me, as usual. I try my best to ignore them and listen to Silex.

"Correct. However, while the Humans perished, the Pokémon survived," Silex continues her lecture, slightly disappointing me that this session wouldn't involve Humans. Oh well, I guess our own history's pretty interesting too. I'll need to revisit them sometime anyway.

"And none of the Pokémon were surprised when the dragons came on top. They were on the top of the food chain, like in the old times. War was waged again by the most powerful, Salamence, Garchomp, and Dragonite." She stops for a breath. "However, one thing changed the Pokémon did not expect themselves to do was to stumble upon Human technology. Some were designed for Humans, which meant we couldn't handle them, such as paper, cutlery, and electricity. However, the gifted dragons were able to utilise other materials to great effects, including bags, wood, and glass…"

I'm completely engrossed in her words, and as class continues it's apparent that I'm the only one that has a chance of answering any possible questions she may ask. I vaguely notice Vie's attention starting to waver. I don't see what else she could pay attention to though, unlike Hale, who's currently secretly drawing a flower with a stick.

Silex starts marking the wall behind her, showing a vague timeline of the things she said.

"…And then came the Hydreigon, who cast a dark shadow upon all the dragons. They used an unknown power to defeat the warring dragons. Their regime was filled with darkness; the other dragons all lived in fear, but the Hydreigon mostly ignored them if they didn't do anything. However, they segregated the dragon tribes. This means we have a lack of sources to study from. All that is known that they suddenly disappeared, and then the three dragon clans go back to war."

"Next week, I'm going to ask you questions, so I hope you memorised what I've said. Class dismissed."

I'm a little upset, but the others are literally breathing sighs of relief (I doubt they memorised half of what she said, though). I crawl out of the room and notice a few Vibrava waiting, perhaps for History class too. They're so lucky; our classes are only 20 minutes, while they get a full hour. At least that gives me a reason to look forward to growing up, though.

I spot Hale next to his father, and I recall something within myself. Suddenly, I want to see Mum. I try and sneak home but Vie grabs my attention by flinging a pebble at me with her mouth, which hits me square on the head.

"Ow," I say rather loudly, "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes. Now, shall we go and play a game of pebble dodge?" she asks.

Pebble Dodge's a game Vie invented, which involves trying to fling pebbles at your opponent with your mouth. I didn't see how that'd be any use practically, but I reluctantly agreed to try it out. And now I'm going to pay the price.

"Err, I want to go ho-"

"Oh come on! Just one game! Pretty please?"

Just by the look in her eyes, I can't say no.

"Fine. One game only."

We decide to use the pebble she just flung at me, which means that I got the first fling. And I hit her on the leg.

"Revenge," I say with a complete smile.

"Oh really," she retorts as she flings the pebble right back at me, sending a dull wave of pain through my back.

After about a dozen exchanges of almost always hitting each other (because we're kind of bad at dodging), I remember my word of "one game only", and insist I go back home – which is my mum's cave next to a lot of others, in the edge of a rock that stands out in the desert. Vie gets a bit depressed, but she'll get over it. So I ignore her and crawl back home.

Upon arrival, I smell blood, which is a good thing. As I head further inside I find Mum handling some Sandshrew meat. She's pretty much indistinguishable from other Flygon, with her upright stature, slim forelegs (I think they call it arms), plus bulging red over the eyes below the long antennae, but the clear scar in her left wing, but her unique smell and mysterious feeling of safeness tells her apart.

"Oh, Nova, you're just in time," she says, "I was just about to store this meat. Since you're here, you can eat it."

Mum's a professional hunter, like most of the other Flygon here, which meant we never had a shortage of food. It also meant that they tried to make their offspring hunters, which was bad news for Vie and me. I suppose I could try and convince them to allow us to become Transporters or Educators (especially the latter), but I think I'd be more convincing if I was a bit older. At least a Vibrava, which was the juvenile form of us, although I'm pretty sure if I'm not going to be able to take as much pebbles from Vie if I lose the shell. (Not like we'd continue playing it.)

I gobble down the tasteless meat – Mum didn't put any herbs today – and when I'm done, I go over and snuggle in beside her.

As I settle down, I call out the reason as to why I was so impatient to return home. "Mum? Can you tell me some stories?"

"Of course, Nova. I heard from Skein that there was some commotion about a Salamence Prince-"

"No, Mum. I mean about Daddy," I say quietly.

"Oh," she replies. "Oh," she repeats in a quieter and stabler voice, as if she's just realised what I said.

I've not learned much about dad, since Mum was always didn't want to talk about him. One of the only things I can remember she telling me is that dad named me Nova, because he wanted me to shine like a star. Not that I want to myself. Another one of them is that he was dead before I hatched, and he died to save me, or something. She doesn't really tell me anything.

So when she starts speaking, I'm startled. But it's only for a second, as I am immediately gripped by her story.

"I met him in Lyrl," she says in a voice that indicates that she's trying to remember something, "Oh, not the Lyrl you know. Your favourite class's History, so you know the war between the Garchomp and Salamence, right? Back when the Dragonite hadn't retreated due to casualties yet, things were a lot more bloody. No Flygon settlements were permanent; we had to keep moving, otherwise we'd be demolished by the war. So Lyrl was constantly moving, and they didn't have advanced tools made then."

She stops as I start to take in the information. "So, where was Lyrl? Back then?"

"It was near here, the Shallows. And I didn't remember my parents; I'm not sure what happened to them, probably just the war. So I was hunting for some food near here for myself… and I made the mistake of trying to get a big Skarmory… a metal bird. I still killed it, but not before it broke my left leg and wing. I couldn't move. So I ate it, and hoped my wing would heal before I got too thirsty. The desert's still very big, and the chances of someone finding you are very slim. The injury wasn't too painful, but apparently it was very severe, because it didn't mend, and eventually I did get too thirsty.

"I remember trying to find a pond, even with my bad leg slowing me down. I'm not sure what I was thinking at the moment, probably because I was about to die or something, but the instant I spot a cave I just limped into it. The problem was, someone was already there. Your dad, of course. I got really scared because I thought he'd attack me, but he let me in after a small scold."

I barely catch my mouth before I could blurt out "Why would you be scared of him?" but the action makes my head move a bit. And mums don't miss anything their children do.

"What is it, Nova?"

"Well, mummy, you said that you were scared he'd attack you… why were you scared?" I ask timidly, for some reason afraid that she'd get mad at me.

Which is why she startled me when she gave out a small chuckle. "He was bigger. And stronger. And… and…" Suddenly, she goes quiet, like what she usually does when I ask questions about dad.

I feel a need to comfort her, because I asked the question in the first place. "It's all right, Mum. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I climb on to her back. "You've told me enough for today," I say lightly.

She doesn't respond. I feel her shaking slightly, and suddenly I feel like crying. But I don't remember much more as I drift into sleep on top of her.

It's been a long time since I've had a dream that I remember, because usually there's nothing too interesting to dream about. But after hearing Mum's incomplete gush of information, I'm left to myself to make the rest up.

I see Mum, who looks exactly the same as now, except with a broken leg and tattered wing, limping towards a cave. I try and help her forward, but I don't affect her in any way despite the effort. Gradually, she reaches the cave, and suddenly, a dazzling figure emerges: a Flygon a head higher than Mum, looking pristine, all colours more vivid than others. I can vaguely make out a scent similar to Mum, which makes me feel safe. He walks forward, and shouts something.

"Nova, dear, please get off. Mummy has to go hunt."

I wake with a jolt, realising I'm still on her. Her head is twisted in a weird manner, looking at me. "The sun's already risen. Why don't you find Vie or something? And practice some hunting, too. I'm not going to be with you forever."

I yawn and jump off her after deciding against commenting on her head. I don't even remember the dream and conversation until she's gone.

I settle down and try and wake up completely, as my mind turns to my father. So many questions answered, but so many questions not. What was he like? Why did he help Mum? And most importantly, why, and how, did he die?

I crawl out of our cave, not knowing where to go. The only schedule most hatchlings (although it's been 11 years already since I hatched) have is that they have to arrive at the brick shack for daily education when the sundial – another manufactured good from Lyrl – strikes two. Well, I'll just find Vie. I always find her when I'm bored. I'm strolling ahead sluggishly until I bump into Hale, maybe on purpose. I'm not sure.

"Watch out – oh, it's you," he says. What's with the look on his face? Angry? Worried? Agitated? What did I do to him, anyway? Bumping into him shouldn't offend him  _that_ much, shouldn't it? After a short period of silence, he starts speaking again. "Vie was upset yesterday. About you."

Me? What did I do to her? Well, I did go home after not even a minute of…  _Oh_ , I say in my mind. She did seem a bit upset when I left her yesterday, but I was pretty sure that she'd be fine the next day. Great. Now I need to apologise to her.

"Where is she?" I ask timidly, somehow afraid that he would unleash his anger on me. He's not usually like this.

"She went to find you," says Hale, not really paying much attention, "so she's probably at your cave or something." With that, he started walking in another direction, muttering about females being oversensitive. I'm tempted to counter his words, but judging by his personality (or at least all that I know of it) he's likely to make a comment about me myself, so I ignore him and try and find Vie. She's pretty much my only close friend, and I really didn't mean to upset her yesterday.

I find her all cheerful near Mum's cave, which troubles me slightly. My prepared apology doesn't come out, and she's already talking.

"Hey, Nova, do you want to go and pick some lilies from the lake for the pond? I brought a sack for it!"

It's then I figure out that Hale just pulled a prank on me. Maybe he's friendlier with me than I originally thought.

"Sure," I reply cheerfully.

We crawl in a stroll to the lake. These are both rare in deserts and necessary for survival, so we visit them often. I start mentioning daddy and all the stuff I feel about him. She stays fairly quiet during my speech, and tries to brighten up the mood without me noticing.

"Well, aren't you lucky! Both my parents are alive and I have nothing to guess about them!" says Vie, unusually bright, with a statement like  _that_. It bothers me. I mean, who would complain about their parents being alive?

Then I recall what Hale said. It wasn't a joke after all. That and I just realised that the lilies will die if we pick them up, so putting them in the pond at the centre won't make it look pretty. It was just some excuse she made up. I don't use my formal apology and simply get out "I'm sorry about yesterday" weakly.

Silence.

"Um, do you want to go play another game of pebble dodge?" I ask, trying to break the unnerving tension.

"Sure!" Her voice returned to its former joyful state. I'm confused as to what's exactly going on until a dark black rock hits me between the eyes.

"Vie, you're my best friend. Tell me what's wrong," I say with as much force as I am able to gather.

More silence.

I'm about to say something again, until she starts speaking, in a strange shaky voice that is far from her usual cheeriness.

"I had nothing to do yesterday. I wanted to play with you," she says, "but you never get in play fights. So… I wanted to do something less harmful. Like pebble dodge." She seems on the verge of crying now.

Why do dragons always cry in front of me? I hate it. Because when they do, most of the time I start doing it as well.

Trying to hold back my own tears, I try and make the apology sound more sincere. "Vie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it – and I didn't know that you were, um, hurt about it. Look, I'm really, really sorry," I'm getting desperate to make her happy as she continues to sob, even if just slightly. "Vie! I'll play with you – and I mean fighting! Okay?"

I dreaded, and still dread, fighting. Vie convinced me to try it once when I was 6 years old. I can't remember much other than the fact that I was completely rubbish at it, and she hurt me quite seriously by biting my leg too hard. It's not hard to be afraid of something when your best friend breaks your leg in one bite.

Her sobs gradually cease, and speaks with a mild happiness I can't really tell. "I'm going to hold you to that, you know."

I don't really care, as long my best friend's happy. She won't go as hard on me again, anyway. She doesn't want me to stay in my cave for a few weeks, because she won't be able to go out with me, and the cave will probably smell really, really bad.

I lay there, listening to her talk about how she saw Hale playing with his older brothers; and got really sad and started crying. Hale noticed it, and asked her about it. When she didn't respond, he automatically assumed it was my fault – and even though I wouldn't want to admit it to him, he's right. Vie's way too cheerful to get sad about something that's not about me, which just shows how close we are.

I envy Hale sometimes, too. I'm not even sure how many friends he usually hangs out with, but most of the time he's laughing like Vie. But I have no siblings, because my dad died too early, and no one else would take a nursing mother as a mate. Vie is stuck in a family of males, but that's not the main reason why she's left out; after hurting me, she pretty much stopped fighting too, while Hale continued with his brothers. Gradually, we were more and more isolated from the rest of her siblings, and perhaps the gender gap helped that a bit (although that would be kind of stupid, since I'm male).

"That's actually a pretty good-looking rock," she says after she finishes telling her thoughts, pointing at the black rock she flung at me. It's kind of like a rod but the ends gradually thin out into a point, which makes it look like it is a bar with two cones on the end. It's also symmetrical, which is good most of the time, says our Arts Educator.

The lake's water is clear, so I'm able to examine myself. I'm not really special or anything, just the generic four legs on the ground with a big head, but the most noticeable parts you could use to tell me apart is the scar on my foreleg and the really weird and pale blue spot to the left of my mouth that isn't really obvious unless you look closely. My shell also looks a bit paler than the others, but nowhere as near as pale as Vie and her family.

We drink quite some water from the lake, and I bring the rock back, clasping it in my mouth. We go to my cave to drop it off.

"What now?" I ask.

"Hang on… the sun's over on the lake's side. Which means it's afternoon, and we need to go to class."

"Oh," I manage to say after processing her words. "We have- oh great, I forgot to revise for the science test. AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!" I gather as much force into my voice as I can, but if she's affected, she doesn't show it. I didn't expect her to, anyway. We do random, cheesy stuff together like that. Maybe that's what makes us so close.

"Stop it, I know you're not really angry," she says with a wide grin. "Why don't we do it now? So we'll be prepared and you'll regain your sanity."

"Okay," I respond, not knowing and caring what "sanity" meant. Science is more important than Language… at least for me.

On the way to the sundial (which was next to the learning place), we revise the lifespan of different species of dragons. Flygon, 160. Salamence, 170. Haxorus, 180. Charizard, 160. Garchomp, 170. Dragonite, 190. Not like the 20 years or so really matters. I'm tempted to add Humans, 130, but I stop because, really, no Flygon but me cares. So I add another one.

"Sceptile, 160."

She gives me a strange look. "Why'd you say that?"

"Well, they are dragons, aren't they?"

"No they're not." She says it so fast and so harshly I flinch a bit.

"Does it matter if they're dragons or not? They might be on the test either way."

"Why would they be on the test if they aren't dragons?"

I don't really get why, but everyone seems to look down on non-dragons. Like that baby Drilbur I found when I was out with Mum. It was really cute, with a few pieces of shiny stuff on its skin here and there, but I didn't get long to admire it before Mum snapped its neck. I felt really sad for it, but she said that it was because we needed food. My stomach ignored my brain and I ate it, mind wandering off to something else.

But now that I'm older, I'm thinking about it more. Every time I try and hunt, I can hear them talking to me. And I just can't stand killing something just like that. I'm only 11 so I can use my age as an excuse. But Vie's had her first kill already, and if I don't do something soon, dragons will start asking me questions.

It is kind of weird, because despite our bad relations due to the Salamence raids, we still regard them higher than our prey. When referring to… beings in general, we use the term "dragons". Which is kind of ironic with Trapinch not even looking remotely draconic.

It's one of the few things I don't talk to Vie to, at least not directly. I'm not even sure why, really. It's probably because I know what her answer would be, and that I wouldn't like it.

"Dunno. Whatever, one more won't kill you," I finish as the building comes into sight.

We get in, and are not surprised that we're the only one there, aside from a few other Trapinch we recognise. We sit down, go over the ages of dragons again, talk about how Hale is insane (I still don't know what that means), and revise again. By the time we're done, most Trapinch from our normal classes are there, including Hale and our Educator, Perspia.

She's just like Mum, bar the scar on the wing. If it wasn't for their voice and their smell, I'd probably not be able to tell them apart easily.

She starts speaking. "I am aware that all of you are aware of the examination of your knowledge regarding the lifespan of certain species of dragons. Examination will commence shortly after the papers are given. Mark each answer with approximately 10 millilitres of muddy water, which you can create using your saliva and the mud on the floor, which is present in every visible areas of floor in this room," she finally finishes, voice a lot more bland than Silex.

I'm not sure about half the words she said, but at least I get the part about using spit to make answers. I drool some on the ground, and use my foreleg to mix it. Lucky we just went to the lake, or I might not have had enough water in me.

Some small part of me inside makes me feel uncomfortable with spit. But I ignore it and focus back on Perspia.

She scolds a few of us (including Hale) for spitting on the dirt mount, and, blows a little fire on them, and instructs them to spit on the side. I'm not sure why, but I feel like grinning as Hale only manages to get out a little. Maybe it's for making Vie cry… even if that was my fault. So maybe it's because he told me about it? Whatever. I need to focus on the- here it comes.

Perspia hands me the paper, then moves along to the others. I start printing mud on the correct answers easily.

I see Sceptile on the paper, and make a mental note to bring this up to Vie later. The Educator put them on the test; they must be at least of some importance, right?

I go through the list of dragons, and detail out their ages. Some of the questions have an extra part about their maturation ages, which was only mentioned in passing in class; thankfully, I'm the type that listens, and smudge the correct box beside the numbers.

_At what age do Dragonair undergo metamorphosis to Dragonite?_

Easy.  _20-25._

_At what age do Trapinch undergo metamorphosis to Vibrava?_

Seriously, they should expect us to know about our own race.  _12-17._

_At what age do Shelgon undergo metamorphosis to Salamence?_

Well, I'm not sure about this one, but I think  _17-23_ seems plausible.

_At what age do Charmeleon sprout wings and mature into Charizard?_

Finally some difference in the wording of the question. I mark  _15-20_  and look at the final question.

_Bonus Question: Which of the following organisms mature the fastest and slowest psychologically?_

I don't even really get what "psychologically" means, but it sounds like something to do with the mind; I've heard of this type of Pokémon called "psychics" before who use their mind to do funny stuff, and this word sounds similar enough.

I check the two columns of  _Matures the Fastest_  and  _Matures the Slowest_. Both have exactly the same list of dragons. And I see an extra option; Humans.

Wow, today must be my lucky day. Because of my extra interest in Humans, I know that they mature slower, but don't live as an adult a long as dragons. But their mind grows up a lot faster, apparently. I don't even remember the source of this information, but it should be accurate enough. I mark  _Humans_  on the column of  _Matures the Fastest._

I briefly wonder why they used such simple words, such as "Slowest" rather than some other fancy word. It's probably because the question's hard, so they cut us some work by using simpler words… right?

I'm getting distracted again. The rest of the listed things are all various dragons. How should I know from experience if I've only interacted with others of the same species? The Vibrava still seem pretty childish to me… whatever. It's just a bonus question, I won't get too bad even if I get it wrong. I mark  _Flygon_  and glance up at Perspia now that I've finished. She's watching us intently, and perks up as she sees me and my marked paper.

"Five minutes to go," she announces. Her practice is to give a few minutes after the first person finishes, and it turns out I'm the first one.

Hale gives me a dirty glance for shortening his time but I don't really take notice of it. I go over the test once, and then lie down on my stomach. And then I close my eyes, letting my mind wander to things I like to think about. Like dad.

But in no time, Perspia tells us that the test is over, and she takes them in. We'll get the results in next week's lesson, and I'm pretty confident I'm going to get one of the top marks, if not the top mark.

We file out of the room, with some others chattering about the test. I see the cluster of Vibrava waiting, again. I bet they get tests with more interesting info.

Another dull pain hits me right on the forehead. Vie's flinging pebbles again.

After last night's talk, the desire to know more about dad has faded, so I don't mind spending the rest of the afternoon with Vie.

I pick up the pebble and fling it right back at her, hitting her just above her left eye.

"Well, I hit somewhere more dangerous to our body than you. So I win."

"Keep on speaking," she replies, as the pebble comes flying back at my head.

It's not really dangerous to us, of course. Our shell is very hard, even our eyelids, to compensate for the low crawling speed most Trapinch have. As much as I want to get out of this shell and have longer lessons, losing it means I'll be a lot more fragile. But I suppose I'll be able to fly and move a lot faster, so not as much will possibly threaten me.

Before I notice it, we're out in the wild already, the Shallows only a bunch of noisy stuff in the distance, the lone tree I dozed off next to from yesterday right next to us. And apparently Vie was thinking about something too, because she didn't say much either.

Which is why I'm a little surprised when she speaks. "Nova, who are you going to pick as your mate?"

"What do you mean?" I ask back, slightly confused at the sudden question.

"Well, I heard Hale talking abut it the other day. He said he wanted Jay to be his mate, but she just giggled and crawled away. So, are you going to be my mate?"

A mate? Well, I don't see why not. She's my best friend, and I don't know who else I'd choose anyway.

But before I get to say anything, everything suddenly becomes darker. I blink, and realise that we're covered in some sort of shadow, because Vie and the ground around us are the only other dark things. The darkness goes away as I look up.

And I see dozens of Salamence, flying towards the Shallows. Complete smiles printed on their faces. Chanting a minatory chant that tells me they're seeking blood.


	2. Chapter 2

Minatory. What does it mean? I don't remember where I got it, or why I even mentioned it. But that's not what I should be worrying about right now.

I drag Vie into the shadow of the tree as fast as I can.

"What is wrong with yooouuuuu…" Her last word stretches as she spots the flock of Salamence. "What the Hydreigon is  _that_?"

We haven't experienced any raids before, so I'm not sure what to do. Actually, that's a lie. We have. I've never actually seen Salamence raids myself, because they're all at night when we're inside our caves sleeping, but I've heard the discussion of it afterwards amongst the adults, and the words weren't pretty. And I've heard enough to know that they never come in this quantity. But that still doesn't give me the solution as to what to do.

"I don't know, Vie." I've only just realised what this means. They're going to attack the Shallows. I can't let Vie go angry and go back because we're safe here. "I mean, I do know, it's a bunch of Salamence. But I don't know what we're supposed to do."

"What're they here for?" She doesn't seem scared. She seems angry. "Why do they always bother us?"

"Get back here!" I yell at her as she tries and go out. "What if they see you?"

"I don't care! What's their problem? We just try to just… just live, and they come and raid us!"

Where does she get all these thoughts from? Her parents? She's not old enough to think about things like war! Wait, I'm actually younger than her, so I guess I have no right to say something like that. But still, she needs to calm down.

"Vie, we can't do anything. Look, stop trying to pull, my leg's hurting! The point is, they will do much better than us at defending the Shallows! The adults, I mean." She seems to calm down (thankfully) and lies down and sighs.

"So, what now?" she says in an overly casual tone, "Since you don't want me to do anything."

Well, something cheerful like pebble dodge is out of the question. "Talk… I guess." What else?

She gives out a kind of shrilly laugh that makes me feel uneasy. "So do you wanna be my mate or not?"

Even if the answer is no, I wouldn't say it because of the stress she's under. But the answer's yes anyway. "Yes, of course."

"So, what do you think we'll name our hatchlings?"

Isn't that a bit early? Whatever. Now isn't the time to get fussy over small details. "I don't know. What would you name them?"

Shouts of alarm fill the air before she gets to speak.

"They're there, then." Her voice is so tired and helpless it makes me cringe. I don't want her to feel like this.

"Don't worry. We've passed previous raids before, so it'll be okay, won't it?" That's a lie. I never knew how many dragons were in the other raids.

At least she seems convinced. She begins, "Yeah, you're ri-" and she's interrupted by a scream.

I can't help but think that it's her mum. Or my mum. The thought alone makes me myself want to go. But I'd be of no use, so I stop myself.

" _Okay_ , you said?" she says in a mocking tone.

"Alright, just put your claws over our ears and shut your eyes. Do it!" I try and convince her. "I'll tell you if something really bad happens. We'll be fine."

She gives something like a defeated sigh and does what I tell her to.

Now that Vie's calmed down, I look back at the Shallows. There's not much fighting for some reason; maybe the Salamence are going for the food, rather than trying to kill Flygon or get territory. Finally some good news, even if it doesn't mean much if these screams continue.

Eventually, I begin to feel that I can't take it either. So I move next to Vie and do the same as her. She seems to understand, and shuffles a bit closer. Of course she does, she has more family members there than I do.

But that doesn't mean I don't care about Mum. I can't stop visions of my mum getting torn apart by Salamence entering my mind.  _Better that than it happening in real life_ , I think bitterly.

A while passes with both of us staying silent until I sense something land next to us. Then I realise I didn't watch the Salamence like I told Vie. I panic for a moment, but then I smell the scent of the dragon, and it isn't foreign; it's surprisingly familiar, and makes me feel safe.

I take my claws of my eyes.  _"Mum?"_

"Oh thank goodness you're alright," she says in a tone that I've never heard her use before. "I thought… never mind. Get Vie up, will you?"

Mum seems to be breathing in short and fast breaths, so I assume she's just flew really fast. I let her catch her breath as I sink into the joy of the realisation that my mother's safe.

"Vie?" I ask her. Then I notice she still has her ears clamped. I try and pull one off, but it's surprisingly forceful. I have no choice but to yell really loudly. "Vie, my mum's here!"

She gets up after a moment, and it doesn't take me much to notice that she's still shaking. Of course. I'm so selfish. "And I'm sure you're parents will be too."

"Yeah, they will," she says in a voice that tells me she's not really convinced. She turns to Mum . "Hi, Nova's mum. So, over yet?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I was out hunting, but then I heard the noise. I tried to fly low to avoid attention and happened to run into you two," Mum explains. "And since there aren't any more screams, we can assume either the raid's over or they're all dead."

"Don't say that!" I yell at her – maybe the first time in my life – thinking about what Vie'd be feeling after that sentence.

"Sorry," she says with a surprising amount of sincerity. "I shouldn't have said that."

Somehow, that just makes things more awkward.

"So, do we go back now?" I ask Mum before the silence gets too long.

"I was wrong in saying that the raid is over. Because if it was, then we'd see the Salamence coming back. And no, that doesn't mean they're all dead either," she adds quickly, "they might be negotiating or something. I think it's safer for you two to stay here. I'll go check what's going on."

No, Mum's alive, and I'm not going to let her go into danger again. "Don't go, Mum. I don't want you to."

"I'll be fine, dear. Look out for Vie, will you?" she says quickly as her wings start to move.

"Don't!" I yell, but she's already gone. I'm left furious, but I can't really do anything about it.

I turn around to look at Vie who has been silent all this time, only to find her in tears. Again.

"Vie… your family will be fine. There weren't many screams, were there?"

I don't know why, but I don't feel like crying. As selfish as it sounds, it's probably because mum's safe. I'm still mad at her, but I have to put that aside, because Vie's crying.

"N-not true." She stutters in her words. "Dragons d-don't always scream w-when they g-get…"

She gives another big sob and stops speaking.

"Fine, cry then. It's a release, and you'll feel better afterwards." I don't know where that comes from either, but I say it. I really need to improve my memory, with all of these things I say which I can't remember where they came from.

Oddly, Vie stops crying instead. "N-nah. It won't do anything. Let's talk about something."

The mood becomes strangely lighter. So we talk about stuff we usually talk about, like the test ("Well, I guess Sceptile are dragons, then"), the black rock I found ("It's back in Mum's cave"), and trying to pull a prank on Hale ("Get one of those bucket things and pour water all over him!") which Vie was much more enthusiastic about than me. I still agree to talk about it with her though, because it's still quite funny picturing a wet Hale, even if we're not going to carry it out.

A while passes with no more mention of the Salamence. I try and forget about it, but it's always nagging me in the back of my mind, even if it's just a small tug. But we seem to have an unspoken agreement to… cheer up, I guess. I'm not even angry at Mum anymore.

We're still talking when I spot a bunch of Salamence flying back in the direction they came from – south, I think. Vie doesn't seem to notice it, so I don't mention it either. They gradually fade out into the distance as I try to keep her attention.

It turns out that I don't have to try very long, because Mum comes back, looking grave. I know what this means, and it seems like that Vie does too. But she doesn't burst into another fit of sobs like I expect. Instead, she murmurs quietly, "Who survived?"

Mum seems to get the question. "Your mum. Barely. Cole. Bane. No one could find Hale. That's it."

So 2 of her brothers and her mum survived. She has 5 brothers, counting Hale, so it's quite a loss. Then there's her dad.

Vie seems to take the news in quite calmly, like he expected it. She gives a just noticeable shake, and her voice shakes only slightly. "Can I go back and see them now?"

"Yeah, it's safe now. Go."

No thoughts of making Hale wet are in my mind anymore. I'm surprised at myself for being genuinely worried about Hale, a Trapinch that I don't even really talk to. But if this is what I'm feeling, what about Vie? How does she hold it in?

I keep on glancing uneasily at her as we begin the trek home – Mum can't carry both of us. She seems to be constantly on the border of bursting, but it never happens. The silence doesn't last long as I arrive at what I recognise to be Vie's parents' cave. I've been there before, and it's a lot larger than Mum's, but other than that there's not really any difference.

Inside, I spot two of Vie's brothers. They're both Vibrava, but there's a subtle size difference. I'm not sure which is which, because I've never really interacted with them before.

"Vie, this is terrible," the bigger one says, "Well, I'm sure you heard what happened… from Shell."

It's weird hearing other Flygon talking about Mum with her name, but I don't comment on it. Really, why do I have to pick up on these small things when half of Vie's family is dead?

"Yes, I told her," Mum says while Vie suddenly starts shaking her head really really hard. "Let her see her mother. It might be her last chance."

The Vibrava crawls towards Vie. "Come on, it'll be all right," he says to Vie, who's now shaking her whole body. She follows him further into the cave, still shaking. I try to follow, but Mum blocks me with an arm as the Vibrava starts speaking again.

"Thanks a lot, Shell. Now that you've got Skein here, my mother's got a better chance of survival."

"Don't mention it, Bane. I'm sure she would too if I got a big cut to my chest. Anyway, I think your family should stay together for now… I'll take Nova away for a moment."

Bane nods, and goes into the cave himself while Mum brings me out.

"Who's Skein?" I ask her the instant we get out of their cave.

"A friend of mine. He specialises in the medical department – basically, healing injuries," she changes her wording after noting the confusion on my face. "I thought you knew him. He's Jay's dad."

"Oh, yeah.' I kind of forgot. Well, there's another profession I can do that's intellectual. Providing I don't get killed by these raids first. "What happened with the Salamence, anyway?"

She puts her claw below her chin, like when Silex does when she's thinking. I still don't get why they do that, but it doesn't really matter right now, does it? "Well, I don't have first-hand experience, but apparently the Salamence weren't as aggressive as expected; they just tried to search everywhere, and any denial of it would lead to them trying to force their way through. It's what happened with Vie's family.

"Vie's father didn't let the Salamence in their cave, so the Salamence attacked him. Sky – Vie's mum – didn't like it, so she joined in, along with two of their sons. Vie, Cole, and Bane were out. I'm not sure about Hale. The Salamence attacked with no mercy, and even though they managed to kill one of the Salamence, the others overwhelmed them. Vie's mum's the only one that was left alive, but not after suffering a claw to the chest.

"Flygon everywhere are discussing about this. It seems like the actual casualties – deaths – weren't that plentiful, about 10 percent or something, because some of us just let the Salamence in. Vie's family got really unlucky. What we're really concerned about is why they came here. Personally I think it's to do with the rumour about the disappeared Salamence Prince, but there's no solid evidence.

"Anyway, what happens now is that because this place is far too unsafe, I think we're all going to move to Lyrl. So we need to get our stuff."

Move to Lyrl? I've never even been there before. The idea of leaving my home I've grown up is kind of… I don't know, but it just doesn't feel right. But I don't argue with her, because I know she's trying to keep me safe.

At least we don't have much to pack. Mum has this box of something that might be a nuisance, but I only have a few things I picked up around the place, some manufactured toys from Lyrl, and some work from school. It seems as if I'm the only one who bothers to keep them, though.

We arrive home, and suddenly another problem enters my mind. "What about Vie?"

"I suppose they'll be moving to Lyrl, too. Actually, I think I might take Vie with us on the trip, because both of her brothers are quite vulnerable out in the wild and they have to fly fast. Even though it means we'll have to walk."

"What about her mum?"

"Oh, Skein told me that her cranial Vena Cava was too badly damaged and that she probably won't survive."

The bland tone Mum uses to address Vie's mum's possible death makes me nervous. I thought that they were good friends? Maybe Mum has experienced too much death that it doesn't affect her too much. Like dad, or her own parents. I didn't even know about her own parents until the talk yesterday, to be honest. I should probably pay more attention to her, because she's my mum, after all.

I get my sack of little objects and go over them. There's the black stone. There's a little book I've read. There's that cube – it's called a void cube, I think – which I used to play with a lot. And there's a really thin twig that's really bendy that Vie gave me for my last birthday. Which was June the 24th, 161. Speaking of which…

"What's the date, Mum?"

"Hm? Oh, let me check…" she searches for some other manufactured good that's in her box. "March the 23rd."

Well, that's 2 months until I can start expecting to crack out of this shell. The thought is inviting, even though I thought my first flight would be over the rocky hills of the Shallows.

I do really hate those Salamence. But if that's what I'm feeling, Vie…

Vie took the death of her family much better than I would have. Maybe because it's bigger (but wouldn't that make it worse?), or maybe because she's just stronger… I don't know. She must be holding in a lot.

"Don't worry, we might be returning here," Mum says as I glance uneasily back at the cave I've lived in for my whole life.

"Are you sure we have to leave, Mum?"

"Nova, it's for our safety. Didn't you see what happened to Vie's family? We have to move… I'm sorry."

It's not her fault. So why is she saying sorry? Maybe she's trying to comfort me. I think she should leave that to Vie.

I don't say anything about it though. I can't really think of what to say. I just put the sack onto my neck, and look at the surroundings. The caves lined up in the side of this rock, the sundial that stands alone in the middle, the lake in the distance. And remember all the memories that come with it.

We arrive at Vie's parents' place. Bane's lying there at the exit, staring at the ground.

"Bane? How is Sky?" Mum asks, clearly talking about Vie's mum.

"Skein said her blood vessels were too damaged." His tone seems bland, just like Mum's. No, he's definitely affected by his mother's death. You can see it in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Why does Mum keep on saying that? It's not her fault. "How's Cole and Vie? Did you find Hale?"

Bane gives a really big sigh and gets up. "Vie tried to knock herself out with a stone, Cole's trying to make sure that doesn't happen. No news of Hale."

"Let me see Vie," I say instantly almost in a commanding tone that I shouldn't be using to someone whose Mum has just died.

"Yeah, go ahead. I have to at least try and find Hale before I leave," he states, still using the bland tone.

"I'll help," Mum adds in, and I hear them talking about where to go as I walk in further into the cave.

"Vie!" I yell. "Are you there, Vie?"

I can't really see where I'm going – there's more light in Mum's cave – so I walk into something. "Ow," I mutter under my breath, until I realise it's the dead body of a Salamence.

I make out a large cut to its neck, which seemed to be the cause of death. The eyes are still open, not full of violence as I expected, but emptiness. And I realise that they die too.

"That's the one that killed dad. Mum killed him afterwards, but then too many Salamence came in."

I turn around. Cole is behind me, staring at the corpse with something I can't grasp. "You called for Vie? She's here." His tone doesn't get any less bland than his brother as he signals with his head towards another tunnel inside the cave. "I think you'll do better at calming her down."

Being not sure what to say, I just nod and crawl in the direction of the tunnel. I see Vie bashing her head on the wall, and beside her is her mother, looking quite peaceful with her claws together at her chest, almost covering the wound. I could have assumed that she was asleep if not for the blood splattered across her torso.

I start to feel down instantly. But I have to make sure Vie stops doing that or she'll actually kill herself.

"Vie?  _Vie?_  Answer me!" I say to her, speaking and louder and louder. "Bashing your head on the rock won't help."

She stops, and not even turning around, says, "It does. It makes me forget everything that I don't want to remember."

She's clearly crying now. "Look, Vie, I know you're very sad-"

"No. You. Don't!" Her voice suddenly raises, "You don't know how I feel! Both of my parents dead! Two of my brothers dead! And my twin brother missing!" She turns around to look at me now, and I can see the anger in her eyes which doesn't fit in with the tears. "All because of those stupid Salamence! What do they want!"

I'm tempted to back down a little, but I can't if I want a chance of calming her down. "Vie, listen-"

"I don't want to listen! They're dead, gone forever! I'll never, ever be able to talk to them! Never-"

"Vie!" I shout, and she stops, hopefully for more than just a second. I wait for a moment and she doesn't start, although the glare's still there. "Please listen to me. You're right; I probably don't know how sad you feel. But you need to stop trying to avoid it," I try and say in a both commanding and comforting tone at the same time, "Because avoiding it won't help. Right now, you can't do anything to help them anymore, but you can just stay alive. That would be what they wanted, right?"

I stop to catch a breath, as the anger in her eyes disappear, replaced by sadness. "I don't know what to do, Nova," she says as she crawls towards me, and I nuzzle her. I hope it makes her feel better.

"I just want to kill all those Salamence," she finally says what all of us think, in a voice that is still threatening despite her sobs.

Even though I can feel that I'm not about to cry, I'm getting sadder as every second passes. Staring at the dead body of Vie's mum with her sobbing by my side isn't something you'd do to cheer up others.

I try to stare at the rock floor and not anywhere else. It's surprisingly easy, actually, since it's so dark. As Vie's sobs gradually slow down, I feel the anger at the Salamence too. But for more selfish reasons, like robbing my home from me, rather than the death of family members. What can we do, though? If our parents die fighting them, what chance do we have?

"We can't kill them, Vie," I say. "They're too strong. Maybe when we're older. Let's just… try and stay safe, okay?"

I am half-expecting her to burst and disagree with me, but she just nods, and stops sobbing. "You're right. I shouldn't have shouted at you. I'm sorry."

What's wrong with everyone, apologising all of a sudden? "No, no. Stop apologising. I'd probably be worse off if my mum died. You took it lightly."

Maybe I was too harsh with that (but how?), because she backs away slightly. This is stupid.

"Okay, I probably shouldn't have said that. It's just that everyone starts saying sorry when it's not their fault. I'm s-" Wow, I almost said it myself. I guess I can't really blame them, then. "We'll have to move to Lyrl," I say, changing the topic. "Mum said it's too unsafe here. I already got my stuff." I show her the sack I have.

"Well, I figured something like this would happen." She gives one last look at her mother – I can't even tell her from my own in the dark, because all I smell is Vie – and starts walking out. I follow. "Dad's brother will take care of their… bodies," she says, now using the monotone her brothers are using. "So, any idea where Hale is?"

"Bane and my mum are trying to find him," I tell her. "I'm pretty sure he's okay, though, since the Salamence didn't seem to actively try and aim to harm if we weren't in their way. Mum said that's what she heard from the other adults."

If she knows I'm trying to just comfort her without any actual idea of Hale's condition, she doesn't show it. Instead, she talks about something else. "Why do you have a sack, anyway? I don't see anything worth owning at this point. We don't even understand most of the manufactured goods."

I'm slightly surprised at her not talking about her family anymore, but I don't mention it. "Well, I just like keeping some stuff from when I was little. They remind me of… well, my childhood." Technically, "hatchlinghood" would probably be a more accurate word, but screw word accuracy for the time being. I need to stop Vie from crying again.

"Oh, okay."

I'm not sure how to respond to "okay", so I don't say anything either. I just survey the area over and over again. I think she's doing the same. At least she's not so upset anymore.

But was I right to make her stop crying? Maybe I should let her cry. It's kind of like me denying her some sort of right.

I sigh over this confusion. Whatever. My head hurts.

Vie looks at me for sighing. I brace myself for questions (because I'm not just going to talk to her about it after she forgets- well,  _seems_  to forget it), but she just says, "Can I have a look at your sack?"

"Sure." Breathing another sigh of relief, I roll over, and the sack lands onto the ground. When I right myself, Vie is already looking through it. She looks at the book.

"Where did you get this?" she asks.

"Mum got it for me last year."

"I wish my parents gave me this type of stuff, too. Both of them are Hunters, and my whole family was probably going to be one, except for me."

It must be strange to be Vie's parents; they finally got a daughter, yet the daughter doesn't want to do what they would have expected her to.

"Can I read it later?" she asks me.

"Yeah." As if I could say no right now.

"And what's this?" she asks, now fiddling with the cube.

"I think it's a toy. You can turn around the sides, and you have to try and make all the sides the same. It was originally designed for Humans, though, so I didn't really play with it. My claw isn't as, well… I'm not sure about how to describe it, but Humans' hands are a lot more… Um, I can't find the right word for it."

"Nimble? No, that doesn't fit. Doesn't matter, I get what you mean." She puts it aside and continues to check through my bag.

We are still chatting about random things like how bendy that stick is until Mum comes buy.

"Hale?" Vie lets out, her voice differing from the previous chat immediately. It doesn't seem I'll be able to take her mind off this any time soon.

"I think…" she winces a little, "Silex has taken him on a trip to Lyrl."

"Wait, what? Silex?" I blurt out, not sure what I've just heard.

"She's that kind of person, taking care of the frightened children. Anyway, we should go now. We might find Hale in Lyrl."

"Mum, wait a second." I can tell she's hiding something about Silex. "How do you know she's like that? Why is she like that? And why did-" she take Hale with her, but I don't get to ask that because Mum interrupts me, with a very strange blink.

"I know because… because I know things. No more questions, we have to go." She blinks very unnaturally again, turns around, and starts to walk into the distance.

What is she doing? I'm tempted to defy her for a moment, but then I'm reminded of Vie's existence by her packing my stuff into the sack.

"Oh, uh, thanks," I manage to say, feeling awkward for some reason.

"No problem. I think we'll walk now." She heads off to Mum, having used a bland tone that I'm oh-so tired of.

"W-Wait, why aren't you flying us there? Mum?" I ask her, suddenly frightened by their indifference.

Without turning around, she says, "You'll probably fall off. There's two of you. No, flying at lower altitudes won't work either, because the speed will also injure you, not just the fall."

I knew the answer to the question I asked anyway, but that wasn't the point of it. I just want her to look at me again.

Running up to both of them, I start talking again. "What is Silex-"

"Don't mention her in front of me!" Mum turns around with her eyes full of tears, and I see a final attempt to contain them with another blink before they fall out. Then she turns back and storms off.

"I don't think you should ask her more questions. She looks as if she's going to explode," Vie offers weakly.

I don't disagree; I'll have plenty of time to ask her questions about Silex later. But the thing is, what happened between them and why is Mum so sensitive about it?

I'm so stupid. Asking myself questions in my mind will make me blurt them out again. It's best to just follow Mum and talk to Vie about stuff.

"So, do you have any idea why Hale went to Silex?" I ask her, until I realise she's in the front with Mum.

I don't think this trip will be very interesting.

But the thing is, something's really really strange. All of a sudden, my cheerful life has been turned upside down. Mum's cried twice in front of me now, and both times she revealed things she hasn't before, and incomplete too. Why didn't she just tell me when I was younger?

And the Salamence. I doubt my hatred of them will ever reach Vie's level, but I still hate them for doing this. It's as if all of this is their fault. No, it actually is their fault; what else can explain the sudden change of mood in my life?

Well, it's not like I'll be able to kill them all or anything. If I could, the other Flygon would have done so already.

But right now, I have enough to focus on. I run up to them. Mum's tears are gone but she still looks sad, while Vie just looks… emotionless. Without saying anything, I try and give both of them a comforting smile.

And thankfully, both of them return it.

Maybe if I avoid sensitive topics, my life won't turn out too bad after all.

The journey is uneventful (as expected). In the evening, Mum tells us to stay together while she gets this thing from her box as well as some spare wood to light a fire for warmth. Then she goes and hunt. Vie's calmed down and we can talk about her family without her getting too emotional. That's good news; she's getting over it. But most of the time we simply talk about other things.

I haven't mentioned Silex to Mum again. She doesn't seem like she would like it, because she doesn't use the word "dear" as much anymore. But I keep on telling myself I'll have time to talk to her about it, which stops me from blurting it out.

On the night of the second day, I try to fall asleep like I should, but it's kind of hard because I think about so much stuff. Another problem is that I'm between Vie and Mum, and after Vie shuffled a bit closer I'm feeling a bit squashed. I keep my eyes closed but I still feel awake with a clear mind.

I'm not sure how long passed, but I'm woken by a weird crunching noise, like someone eating food. I open my eyes and climb out of the place (a bit hard with Vie tugging on my leg), and I look next to the fire. The Hippopotas that Mum got is missing, and there's a distinct trail that indicates it was dragged towards… I can't see far in the night distance, but I go ahead anyway. The crunching sounds gradually get louder, and the trail leads to behind a rock, where there's a strange orangish light.

I'm anxious to see who's been taking our food. This morning, it was missing as well, but I assumed that Vie or Mum did something to it. But then again, what if it is a really strong Pokémon?

I approach silently from the side and it appears that my worries aren't really needed. I see a small orange lizard, with a round head and a tail that ends in a small flame, nibbling on the remains of the Hippopotas.

Judging by the scent, the lizard is female, but very young. I'm not sure what to do when she turns around.

Her eyes are so…  _cute_ ; there is no other word for it. Even though her maw is a bit bloody. I'm about to ask her why she's here when she screams.


End file.
